Think that you know paint? Really, really know paint? If you do, then Games Workshop might have a job for you. The Warhammer 40k manufacturer has recently opened two job listings, one for a ‘paint, coatings, and adhesives’ product developer, the other for a hobby product tester – hinting that the firm is putting more resources into developing its paint ranges.
Games Workshop’s last big innovation in paints for miniatures was back in 2019 – Contrast Paint, a kind of translucent paint with a specially formulated medium that allows it to basecoat, shade, and highlight a miniature in a single coat.
GW billed it as the easiest possible way to start painting miniatures, and while it’s not quite as useful for beginners as the initial marketing suggested, it’s undeniably an effective tool for rapidly painting up a huge Warhammer 40k faction. So confident was the firm with the new paint range, that it even commissioned this subtly uncomfortable teaser trailer for it:
Contrast was a big hit. GW has released new paints since then (including some much better red and yellow contrasts), but it hasn’t done anything as ground breaking as Contrast. Meanwhile, other firms have made their own answers to Contrast – I’m particularly fond of Army Painter speed paints.
At the UK Games Expo, team Wargamer tested products from Ammo, AK Interactive, and Army Painter that were variously better for new painters and more impressive than Games Workshop’s regular Citadel Paints for general purpose and high detail painting – you can read about them in this article.
We have asked Games Workshop if the two new roles will support the development of a new paint line, or simply replace outgoing staff, and will update you when we get an answer. The job listing for the product developer role specifies that the post holder will “research and develop new and existing paints”, and their workload will include “multiple projects at different stages of development”.
GW has plans to open a new paint factory close to its HQ in Nottingham, UK, and scale up its manufacturing operations substantially, going from 13 paint production staff to 50. The firm’s primary goal is most likely to produce more paint more efficiently, but outfitting a new factory gives the firm a rare opportunity to acquire new specialised machinery, which may give more scope for new products.
What’s your favorite hobby paint range? What do you think Games Workshop should change in its paint range, or add to it, if it wants to remain at the forefront of the industry? I’d love to hear your recommendations and thoughts in the official Wargamer Discord community.
Still holding out on Contrast paint? Here’s the story of how site editor Alex was converted to the rapid fire painting style.
Source: Wargamer
